The invention relates generally to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to a bonded elastomeric connector for making connections between substrates.
Many electronic applications utilize single contact connections to make a connection between substrates. For example, in a mobile phone application, a single contact connector may be used for making a grounding connection between two circuit boards. Typically, pogo pin type connectors or stamped and formed connectors are used for making such single contact connections. In addition, multiple pogo pin or stamped and formed connectors are often used to make connections to components such as speakers, ringers, or vibration motors and the like.
The aforementioned connector solutions have certain shortcomings, such as, for instance, they require custom tooling to manufacture and have long lead times. In particular, as electronic packages become progressively smaller, the size of the connectors must also become smaller and in many instances, the traditional connector designs become inadequate. In particular, there is a limit to how small a pogo pin connector can be made. Not only are there size limits for the pogo pin components, but at its limits, the deflection range becomes insufficient. In addition, the connector becomes even more costly as the size is reduced.
The aforementioned concerns have led to the increasing use of elastomeric connectors in electronic devices. The elastomer in the elastomeric connector maintains some of its flexibility even when reduced in size. One type of elastomeric connector includes alternating layers of a conductive and non-conductive elastomeric material such as silicon rubber, with the conductive layers formed with layers of silicon material impregnated with electrically conductive material such as carbon, gold, or silver, and the like. The non-conductive or dielectric elastomer layers are sandwiched between the conductive layers and are of sufficient thickness to insulate the conductive layers from one another.
It remains a challenge to provide a low profile low cost connector that is easily modified for multiple applications, that requires little tooling, and may be produced with short lead times.